WASHINGTON — Mississippi native William "Kyle" Carpenter will receive the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony today.

President Barack Obama will award the medal to Carpenter, a retired Marine corporal born in Flowood, for "courageous actions'' in 2010 in Afghanistan, the White House said.

Carpenter, 25, will become the eighth living recipient of the Medal of Honor, which is awarded to members of the Armed Forces "who distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty.''

He is the third Mississippian to receive the medal.

The ceremony will take place in the ornate East Room of the White House.

Carpenter, then a lance corporal, was part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2010 when he used his body to cover a grenade and protect fellow Marines.

"I don't think I'd ever thought about what I would do in that situation," Carpenter said in a recent interview with the Clarion-Ledger. "I don't think there is any way to know until you're faced with it. But I did what I was trained to do, and that is protect my fellow Marines at all costs."

Carpenter, now a student at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., retired from the military in 2013 because of his injuries, which included the loss of his right eye. He spent more than two years in the hospital.

Carpenter has received numerous other awards, including a Purple Heart, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.